Yet again another great few days, Sat. and Sunday I stayed in Damascus VA and had a blast with some fellow hiker bums. Food, beers and laughter...great for the soul! Monday I headed back on trail with Sunshine, she is from Wisconsin and is a ton of fun and hikes like the wind. We split early in the day after one last coffee from Mojoes coffee house. I decided to take the Virginia Creeper Trail while Sunshine stayed on the AT (the two trails reconnect 1.7 miles from the second shelter) I cut off two ups and downs to walk along the river for the day. Later in the day I ran into crow and shaggy sitting at a bridge...they had also taken the creeper. That night after meeting back up with Sunshine we hiked a few more miles and made camp.
This morning was kinda cold, we got out of camp around 9am and ran into Minnesota Pete who is probably one of the funniest people I've met out here. The Day started out with a big climb up to Mt. Rodgers the highest mountain in VA. As noon rolled around we all had lunch in a shelter were the Out cast mange pony was mercing around bein weird lol. After lunch we headed down to Grayson Highlands which is absolutely beautiful and where the normal wild ponies hangout. I took a ton of pictures and had a awesome day hanging out On the huge rock formations in the sun. It took sunshine and I 4 hours to do 5.7 miles we were having such a good time. Now I am in my tent in a equally beautiful campsite, the moon is so bright and I can hear the nearby creek...life doesn't get much better.
Our next high point is Partnership Shelter 30 miles from here where we can actually order pizza to the shelter and it has a solar shower!
From 501 miles up the AT I say good day...
Carpenter
Best blog entry ever! Need more! Wife likes too, checks back often. The creek and the full moon . . . I can hear it and see it now. Son, Matt, used to lead week-long hikes in Rogers/Grayson; your stories match. R U scratchin' yet? (Are mange ponies contagious? lol) steve
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